The Kremlin-connected oil company Surgut Neftegaz has surreptitiously bought Austrian OMV's entire 21.2 percent stake in Hungary's MOL Oil and Gas Company. European Union authorities, the privately owned MOL, and Hungary are aghast at Surgut's move and OMV's collusion with it. Budapest and Brussels were... MORE

On March 27 Russia's state owned gas monopoly Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding with Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and Gas Company, SOCAR, which would provide for deliveries of Azeri gas to Russia starting in January 2010. The report in the Russian newspaper Vedomosti on March... MORE

The intensity of energy-political conflicts in Europe has been subsiding since the Russian-Ukrainian "gas war" in January, but last week Moscow launched a new offensive aiming at three crucial targets: Turkey, Turkmenistan and Ukraine. Leaders of major European states paid scant attention, focusing instead on... MORE

The Ukrainian - EU agreement on renovating the main Ukrainian gas trunk pipeline signed in Brussels on March 23 was greeted with a virulent reaction from Moscow. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who runs his countries gas sector with an iron fist, threatened to "review"... MORE

Russian energy companies have intensified their efforts to boost their presence in Central Europe, giving cause for concern that Moscow plans to continue using energy as a foreign policy tool to tighten its grip over the region. Just prior to the last energy crisis in... MORE

Russia's independent natural gas producers (IGPs) account for a growing share of domestic output, but they are now facing turbulent times amid the global financial crisis and the subsequent domestic economic downturn, as well as problems with sales and gas transit. The role of independent... MORE

Russian Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko paid an official visit to Ankara to meet with Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler. At the meeting, Shmatko inquired when the Turkish authorities would make their final decision to allow the Russian-Turkish consortium to build Turkey's first nuclear power plant.... MORE

China was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste—more commonly referred to as East Timor—when it gained formal independence on May 20, 2002 (China Brief, July 5, 2006). Since that time China has expanded its economic interests in East... MORE

During a recent public debate in Brussels on Turkey's energy policies, several panelists advised Turkey's Energy Minister Hilmi Guler, who participated in the panel, that Ankara is "overplaying its hand" by setting unacceptable terms for the transit of Azerbaijani gas to Europe. Such tactics in... MORE

On March 10 in Moscow, Gazprom and Hungary's Development Bank signed the initial documents for a joint venture to implement Gazprom's South Stream pipeline project on Hungarian territory. The respective chairmen, Alexei Miller and Janos Eros, signed the documents in the presence of Prime Ministers... MORE